Islamic World/ Muslim influence

Arabian Peninsula Geography

The Arabian Peninsula, or Arabia, is mostly a hot and dry desert land. Scorching temperatures and a lack of water make life difficult. But in spite of the difficulty, people have lived in Arabia for thousands of years. The Arabian Peninsula is located in the southwest corner of Asia. As you can see on the map, it lies near the intersection of three continents - Africa, Asia, and Europe. Trade routes linking the three continents have passed through the region for thousands of years. Geographers call Arabia a "crossroads" location.

Muslim Conquest & the Islamic World

Islam gradually spread through areas the Muslims conquered. At the same time trade helped spread Islam into other areas as well. Arabia’s crossroads location gave Muslim merchants easy access to South Asia, Europe, and Africa. Along with their trade goods, Arab merchants took Islamic beliefs to new lands. For example, merchants introduced Islam into India. Although many Indian kingdoms remained Hindu, coastal trading cities soon had large Muslim communities. In Africa, societies often had both African and Muslim customs. For example, Arabic influenced local African languages. Also, many African leaders converted to Islam.

As Islam spread through trade, warfare, and treaties, Arabs came in contact with people who had different beliefs and lifestyles than they did. Muslims generally practiced religious , or acceptance, with regard to people they conquered. In other words, the Muslims did not ban all religions other than Islam in their lands. Jews and Christians in particular kept many of their rights, since they shared some beliefs with Muslims. As Islam spread, language and religion helped unify the many groups that became part of the Islamic world. Cultural blending changed Islam from a mostly Arab religion into a religion of many different cultures.

Ottoman Turks

In the mid-1200s Muslim Turkish warriors known as Ottomans began to take land from the Christian Byzantine Empire. As the map below shows, they eventually ruled lands from eastern Europe to North Africa and Arabia. The key to the empire’s expansion was the Ottoman army. The Ottomans trained Christian boys from conquered towns to be soldiers. These slave soldiers, called , converted to Islam and became fierce fighters. Besides these slave troops, the Ottomans were aided by new gunpowder weapons—especially cannons.

In 1453 Ottomans led by Mehmed II used huge cannons to conquer Constantinople. With the city’s capture, Mehmed defeated the Byzantine Empire. He became known as “the Conqueror.” Mehmed made Constantinople, which the Ottomans called Istanbul, his new capital. He also turned the Byzantines’ great church, Hagia Sophia, into a mosque.

Muslim Advancements

Math Muslim scholars also made advances in mathematics. In the 800s they combined the Indian number system, including the use of zero, with the Greek science of mathematics. Muslim mathematicians then used these new ideas to write a math textbook on what he called “algebra.” It laid the foundation for the modern algebra that students around the world learn today. When the book was brought to Europe in the 1500s, Europeans calledthe new numbers “Arabic” numerals.

Astronomy Many cities in the Muslim world had observatories where people could study astronomy—the sun, moon, and stars. Scientists studied astronomy to better understand time and clockmaking. Muslim scientists also improved the astrolabe, which the Greeks had invented to chart the position of the stars. Arab scholars used the astrolabe to figure out their location on earth. This helped Muslims know what direction to turn so they could face Mecca for their prayers. The astrolabe would later become an important contribution to the exploration of the seas.

Medicine Muslims studied Greek and Indian medicine, adding to this knowledge with discoveries of their own. As early as the 800s, Muslim doctors in Baghdad began to improve medicine. As they studied, Muslim doctors

- created tests for doctors to pass before they could treat people- made encyclopedias of drugs w/ descriptions of each drugs effect- wrote descriptions of diseases- started the first pharmacy school to teach people how to make medicines

The first Muslim public hospital was built in Baghdad. In that hospital, a doctor named Ar-Razi discovered how to diagnose and treat the deadly disease smallpox. Another doctor, Ibn-Sina,who was known in the West as Avicenna (av-uh-SEN-uh), wrote a medical encyclopedia. This encyclopedia, which was translated into Latin and used throughout Europe until the 1600s.